The kid's alright

Sometimes you worry about your kids meeting "developmental benchmarks." Hugo's always been a late bloomer, late to walk, late to talk, and until now, never shown much interest in drawing.

According to most development charts, children at age 4 should have been drawing stick figures since 3 and by 4, starting to form letters and numbers. Yikes! Here's Hugo recent drawing of a beach. Beautiful yes, but no stick figures or letters here. Should I be worried?
Lucky Hugo attends a school system where this age is about exploring other things about the world instead of knuckling down and learning to write. I'm glad I don't have to force him to do something he's not ready to do. But I do wonder.

And then I look at this Lego masterpiece and know I have nothing to worry about. Hugo can knock one of these up in a few minutes. Without help or directions, each side perfectly matched. All details correct. I am impressed.

Faith restored. We don't have to worry. The kid's alright.

Today

I had a browse in the local kitchen shop today. Although we are pretty well set for kitchen stuff I do like to see what's around, both silly and useful. Despite trying to stick to a minimal gadget rule in the kitchen, I have been meaning to buy an apple peelers for ages. Seems silly to live in the apple valley on the apple isle and not have one. On sale for less than twenty dollars today I snapped it up, grabbed a few kilos of pink ladies and Hugo and I got to work. Almost looking like a torture device, this baby peels, slices and cores, without electricity. And for a family who go through at least six kilos of apples a week, it's money well spent.

We filled the dehydrator pretty quickly and by tomorrow should have delish dried apple treats. Hugo loves to eat the skin and there are cores left over for the chooks. A big pot of apples is also cooking for a crumble tonight, filling the kitchen with the most delicious homely smell. It only took minutes to prepare them.

Life is pretty hectic at the moment, next week is school holidays and I can't wait. I think we're all a bit tired. We're going to stay in our pyjamas all day and hang out. But it was fun to have a little one on one time with Hugo playing with our new kitchen toy. A fun gadget well worth it I reckon. But I can not see the point in an avocado slicer.

Wish list

This Sunday, Mothers Day, is traditionally a day for sleeping in, breakfast in bed and a wee card lovingly handmade by the peeps. Not for me though, I'll be up at dawn and on the road at 6am. I'll tell you about that soon. But in the meantime, if anyone is wondering, here's what I'm dreaming of this Mothers' Day.
I love Megan's work and her new book looks gorgeous. I also love this song on her website. It's so cute. Anyone know it?
Have you seen Blue Caravan yet? It's a beautiful online store selling contemporary handmade,fair trade & ethical products by independent makers. I'm loving this ipod cover by Kazzki. Go check it out, there's loads of lovely things.

The mother ship. Really. I can't tell you enough how much I love these gumboots. I spotted them on Ali's website who actually has a pair. She's very lucky. These would be perfect to wear in the garden, walking the dog, tramping across frosty grass to watch soccer games. Yep, I can certainly justify a pair. And they'll be perfect for where I'll be spending this Sunday. And most Sundays for the unforeseeable future if things go well.

But honestly? I'm pretty right for stuff. Perhaps I'd prefer a week off from laundry, cooking and vacuuming. My MIL only ever wants a happy family for Mothers Day. I didn't understand the wisdom of this sentiment until I had my own children. Now I think it's perfect. Hanging out with your family doing fun stuff. And really, wish lists aside, it's all you could want as a mum isn't it?

But a pair of Ilse Jacobsen Hornbaeks would be very nice too!